News Releases and Statements

Samantha Elmer, 33, of Lawrence, Kansas, was charged with one count of obstructing the lawful exercise of parental rights by fleeing the United States with her two children.

The defendants, many of whom live in Secaucus and Jersey City, allegedly created “synthetic” identities by pairing real Social Security numbers with fictitious names and birth dates, and then using them to open numerous checking and credit card accounts.

The indictment was returned under seal Nov. 18 and unsealed Dec. 9. Folarin H. Alabi, 33, Justice Daniel, 40, and Ifeoma Adamolekun, 39, all of Houston, were taken into custody Dec. 9.

Rogelio Jesus Martinez, 22, was sentenced to 188 months in prison by Senior U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack. Martinez will also spend the rest of his life on supervised release and must register as a sex offender.

David Scott Fikani, 62, from Abilene, has been in federal custody since September 2015 when U.S. Magistrate Judge E. Scott Frost determined Fikani violated certain terms of his pretrial release and ordered him detained.

Alexander Kostyukov, aka “Temp”, aka “KLBS,” 30, who resided in Miami at the time of arrest, was sentenced on Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Andrew P. Gordon. The Russia-born defendant pleaded guilty to participation in a racketeer influenced corrupt organization (RICO), conspiracy to engage in a RICO, and three counts of unlawfully trafficking in and production of counterfeit identification documents.

“Due to the tireless efforts of the ICE enforcement officers, more than three dozen convicted criminals were taken off the streets,” said Tom Decker, ERO Philadelphia field office directory. “We will continue to ensure our country is not a safe haven for nefarious foreign nationals.”

ICE involves itself in hoax and scam prevention through its enforcement actions and by educating the public on risks.

Rommer Valdez, 39, of Boston, was sentenced to five months in prison and three years of supervised release, the first five months of which is to be served in home confinement. He must also forfeit $26,200 and pay a fine of $3,000. Valdez had previously pleaded guilty in July to one count of conspiring to produce a false identification document.

Malam Mane Sanha was sentenced May 22 to 36 months imprisonment following a guilty plea for conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism; conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States; conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, specifically FARC; and conspiracy to acquire and transfer anti-aircraft missiles.

Samuel Hebert, 32, was sentenced to 240 months in federal prison. Joseph Sutton, 32, was sentenced to 140 months in federal prison, and Steven Villegas, 32, was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison. Each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

Five of those arrested are Peruvian citizens. They face charges for human trafficking of minors, pimping and pandering. The remaining individual, Joshua David Brown, a U.S. citizen, is alleged to have facilitated sex tourism and exploitation of children.

Oscar Herrera III, 42, of Laredo, was sentenced Dec. 8 to serve the maximum 10 years in federal prison following his conviction for possessing child pornography.

Fidel Perales-Castillo, 44, of Laredo, was sentenced Dec. 8 by U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo to 121 months in federal prison. Judge Marmolejo took into consideration that Perales-Castillo possessed child pornography depicting children younger than 12 years of age.

Daren Richard Coen, 69, from Elkhart, Kansas, pleaded guilty to two counts of distributing child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography.

Roger Thomas Clark, 54, a citizen of Canada, was arrested on charges that he acted as a senior adviser to Ross Ulbricht, aka "Dread Pirate Roberts," aka "DPR," the owner and operator of the Silk Road website, an online illicit black market that operated from January 2011 until Oct. 2, 2013.

According to an indictment returned last month in U.S. District Court in Chicago, Dr. Marek Walczyk and Katarzyna Fergemann fraudulently declared U.S. citizenship applicants as suffering from a physical or mental impairment that purportedly rendered them unable to demonstrate the required knowledge of U.S. history and the English language.

Reinaldo Oliveira, 33, recently residing in Columbus, Ohio, was sentenced to 15 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $66,985 in restitution.

Kurt Eichert, 51, of Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania, was charged today by indictment with one count of production of child pornography, two counts of distribution of child pornography, and one count of possession of child pornography.

Andrew Berko, 45, has been in custody since his arrest in April on a related federal criminal complaint.

Lee Robert Moore, 37, was employed by the U.S. Secret Service-Uniformed Division and was assigned to the White House at the time of his arrest, Nov. 9, 2015, and has remained in custody since that time.

Saud Saleh, 30, owned and operated Twinz Meat Market, a retail grocery store, now defunct, that was located at 3083 Kensington Ave. in Philadelphia. At his guilty plea hearing, the defendant admitted that he knowingly trafficked in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the food stamp program.

On June 15, 2013, Sekouba Konate, 51, arrived at Washington Dulles International Airport from Ethiopia illegally carrying thousands of dollars in undeclared cash.

Marcus McIntosh, 59, was found guilty of the charges contained in an Aug. 26, 2014 federal indictment, which identified his role in a conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine between April 1 and Aug. 8, 2014.

Robert Wayne Collins, 62, of Kingsville, Texas, pleaded guilty Dec. 1 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Janice B. Ellington. The court heard that authorities, while using peer-to-peer file-sharing software, were able to successfully download various files containing child pornography from an Internet Protocol address that was associated with Collins.